Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Still Amazed: Day 2

Waking up
this morning was very similar to the previous morning. I had less than four
hours of sleep. It was still difficult (although not as difficult) to fall
asleep. I woke up immediately when the alarm on my cell phone rang. Although
perhaps there were many differences waking up this morning compared to
yesterday. One being I have a hotel room all to myself, and another
being obvious; I'm on the east coast! In terms of comparing these first
two days, I'd say they were very similar, still being pretty smooth, with
everything working out the way it should be.

The
Undergraduate Admissions Office

The "Crew", before our meeting with Mr. Carpenter

The
"Team" had the opportunity after breakfast to have a little meeting
with the Northern California Admissions Officer, Mr. Samuel Carpenter,
before our Duke Tour. I was a bit nervous to meet him because I wanted to give
a good impression to him. But that feeling of nervousness immediately washed
away once he entered the room. He was so energetic and welcoming. Very
charismatic would be the best phrase to describe him.

Mr.
Carpenter was very informative—and in the quickest ways possible. He gave me
strong confidence that the personal statement and teacher/counselor
recommendations is what really is looked at, and Duke takes a student's
personality and their story into account a lot, and I don't think many people
know how important they are. I've come to realize this, when he said that
everyone's going to have good grades, many extracurriculars,
good standardized test scores, but what truly sets them apart is what they
are like.

He
mentioned that Duke doesn't want students to come and be smart; Duke wants
students to fully immerse themselves into the culture and life of this
university.

Everyone
is unique, with students coming from all 50 states and other countries as
well. He mentioned something very philosophical; diversity isn't what
race one is but what kind of person they are, how they act, and how they think.
This is what makes Duke diverse and what gives everyone a different
experience here.

And they
sure do a good job at picking the unique 1,700 of the 31,000 applicants. I
really didn't expect so many people to visit Duke, and the tour guide said
today's turn-out was rather small, which made me realize just how popular and
ideal this school is to many people. Some came from as far away as Canada, Hong
Kong, and Hawaii. I guess my competition won't be very easy.

Grandma and
Mom—I’m praying, and I'm at church—okay? (Duke Chapel)

To
further elaborate on the diversity of students, Duke has a special program
called Duke Engage, a community service program that is totally paid for by the
school. Pretty much, you can leave the country to engage with a different
country's culture and people--to do community service. See, what I really like
is that Duke doesn't require community service, but the students do it
anyway--out of the goodness of their hearts. This, again, just shows how
involved students are, but not only that, it shows that the students are in
these programs not because they have to, but because they want to (you get no
college credit for these programs). If I go to Duke, I can truly make a
difference in this world, because I do, and of course, not because I have to,
but because I want to.

I don't
want to say this, but I don't think I'll change my opinion about this school.
Duke is one of the best schools, if not the best, I've ever laid my eyes on.
Well, not only is it visually sensational—making you feel as if you live in a
castle deep in the woods—but the people and the academics are excellent. If I
had one word to describe Duke it would be this: FREEDOM (or perhaps very, very,
very liberal, but that's more than one word). I learned yesterday that there is
only one required course, a writing course, but today I learned that
undergraduates, if desired, can take a class with graduates. Duke also
ENCOURAGES combining different studies. I think this is perfect for me, because
I really don't know what I want to do, because I want to do more than one thing
in life, so I think it's great the school wants you to do this. Liberal Arts
just became more liberal.

The main
thing that I want in any school is "good" people, and there are
definitely "good" people at Duke. Yes, the academics at some
school may be great, but if that school doesn't have the people that you enjoy,
that school is what I believe is a waste of a person's four (or more) years.
Now I said "people" for a reason; I didn't say students. I said
"people" because I mean EVERYONE on the campus you must enjoy being
with, otherwise your money and your time in life is a waste. The faculty is
very spirited, just like Duke's students. The students are on very good terms
with the Duke President, and even give him a nickname, which I don't remember,
but he likes it. You are able to have many advisors from each department, and
the student/faculty ratio is 8:1, very small. And there's also no excuse not to
know your professor, because you are able to schedule a meal with a faculty
member one on one in this program called FLUNCH. It's just amazing how engaged
and spirited the faculty is.

To further talk
about the "good" "people" at Duke, it's very nice that the
East Campus is where all the freshmen are required to live. From the very
beginning, you'll know your class, and be very close to them by the time the
school year is up. In the information session, we were able to see a short
video about the East Campus and how there is a big welcoming event for the
freshmen. Everyone is very sociable, and so this tells me that Duke is a place
where you can make friends very fast and very easily. This is because the
faculty knows how important it is to have sociable and engaging students,
because the faculty themselves are sociable and engaging. An example of the
kind of faculty members at Duke would be a professor (I forgot his name) that
plays trombone for the pep band during basketball games, and he pumps up the
students even more than they already are. Anyway, at the end of this
event, the freshmen all gather for a panoramic picture that is in the
shape of the year they will graduate. Pretty cool—and memorable—isn't it?

On the U.S.
Airways plane to D.C.

Well I
can go on and on about Duke, but even then I wouldn't be able to fully talk
about this unique university. All I can say is that I'm very, very likely to
apply here. We unfortunately didn't have the time to see everything. Instead,
we said our goodbyes to this magical college, and left a little after noon
and took the 3:15 PM flight to the nation's capital, Washington D.C.! By
now, the Team and I and are pretty used to air travel (being our third time
taking off from a plane in two days), and this flight was very short—just a
little over an hour. The plane, I have to mention, was much smaller than the
Southwest one when we arrived to Durham on. I'm guessing it's because of how
close the two cities are together that there's no real need to fly unless
you're like us and need to go places fast.

Back of the
White House

Once at
D.C., we waited for our SUV (well we didn't know what vehicle it was going to
be, but yes) to drive us to the Holiday Inn in Georgetown. As we drove through
Georgetown, I observed the wonderful independently owned businesses and
interesting connecting, colonial looking, houses.

But
enough about Georgetown. I'm sure there will be plenty of things to talk about
this town, but for now, let's leave it at that.

I'm so
glad we're staying at this hotel for four nights, so I can unpack a bit in MY
(and only my) room—although it's much more fun and less lonely to blog with the
girls, which I'm doing right now. We went for a little swim (because we wanted
to for ages) before we prepared ourselves to dress formal for our dinner at Our
Founding Farmers.

Fancy

Our
Founding Farmers is a restaurant like no other. They like to recycle
everything; all of their foods are organic and fresh. And you can really see,
but especially taste the freshness in their food. The only heads-up I'd give,
however, for future ILCers is this restaurant should be semi-formal, not
formal. Well, that's okay, because one can never be over-dressed, right? In
terms of our dining experience, we all had a blast, and the desserts
definitely gave us a second wind. Overall, I highly recommend this restaurant
for anybody, and I'd love to come again.

Lemon Meunière Diver Scallops

I came to
the realization, again, how grateful I am for this program. I would've never
thought to even come to North Carolina, if it weren't for the Ivy League
Connection, or find a dining place called Our Founding Farmers. I would've
never experienced or encountered these things with the ILC. Anyway, tomorrow is
our "off" day, where we get to explore D.C. for the 4th of
July. Keep following us!

1 comment:

Sounds like you’ve bought in to Duke hook line and sinker. Well, good for you. We emphasize the need to find that ‘perfect fit’ of a university and it seems as though Duke fits you to a T.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts about the school.

On another note, I can’t help but notice a pattern in your blogs where you seem quite pleased to have a room all to yourself. And from the photos you’ve included of some of the rooms, it seems pretty swank.

Keep up the good work, Chris. We’re enjoying reading about the adventures of the Vandy Cohort.

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THE COURSES WE'LL BE TAKING

For a 3 week period between July 8th thru 27th we will be taking the following courses:

Lived Religion: The Abrahamic Faiths

Chris will dig deeper into the study of the monotheistic faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and have the opportunity to explore local religious communities to learn more about the practices of these different faiths and open their minds to three of the most widely practiced religions around the world.

Pharmacology: How Drugs Work

Yessenia and Hannah Lee will study the origins, properties, and effects of prescription and non-prescription drugs. By visiting campus labs Yessenia and her classmates will examine an array of subjects such as exactly how insulin regulates blood levels and the actual process of discovering new drugs

Yessenia will also be able to examine and discuss the moral and sociological dilemmas and controversies involving the characteristics of different medicines and how their nature has affected our world throughout the years. Yessenia is thrilled to study this exciting and intriguing class that will help her gain new perspectives on the drugs used on a daily basis.

Mystery Writing

Narges will learn about the elements of mystery writing in various works of literature. She will read classic and contemporary examples of mysteries and produce an original mystery story of her own. Narges looks forward to learning more about mysteries and adapting a new style of writing. Narges hopes to produce a thrilling mystery story rivaling those of her favorite mystery writer: the one and only Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.